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KANSAS CONTESTED ELECTION. 



SPEECH OE HON. M^RK TR^FTON, 

OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

March 12, 1856, 

0?i the Resolution reported from the Committee of Elections, in the 
Contested Election Case from the Territonj of Kansas. 



Mr. TRAFTONsaid: 

Mr. Speaker: I do not propose, in the few re- 
marks I shall make, to give myself a very wide 
range — I wish to confine my attention particu- 
larly to one or two points. I think the question 
now before this House is narrowed to a point. 
The question simply is. Are these things so, as 
alleged in the report of the Committee of Elec- ■ 
tions ? The interest at stake is not the interest 
of Governor Reeder, or the interest of General ; 
Whitfield, or the interest of any other individ- ' 
ual, nor the interest of any particular portion of 
this wide-spread land. It is a question of interest 
beyond all these. If Governor Reeder justly 
claims his seat, then this House ought to cheer- 
fully accord the seat in contest to that gentle- 
man? If General Whitfield justly claims it, then 
he ought to hold it. But when the facts shall \ 
have been spread before the House, and the evi- | 
dence adduced shall have been brought in, my ' 
understanding shall be open to receive the light 
of that evidence. I will then as cheerfully vote 
for General Whitfield, if I am convinced that the 
seat justly belongs to him, as I will vote for Gov- 
ernor Reeder. We are not acting here alone 
with reference to the condition of things in that 
Territory of Kansas. 

It strikes me that this question looks further 
still. Every member of this body will agree with ' 
me in this. It looks down the vista of coming 
time and coming ages ; and those who shall come 
after us are interested in this question as deeply 
as we are ; and for them, as custodians of their 
rights and their interests, we ought to look at 
this matter quietly and calmly and deliberately; 
yet manfully decide it on the merits of the ques- 
tion. And now, Mr. Speaker, the Committee of 
Elections come into this House and make a re- 
port; they say that there are certain allegations. 
They spread them before us. They say that 
there has been an invasion of the rights of the 
actual settlers of the Territory of Kansas. They 
say that foreigners, who had no right there, came 



in armed, with music — it may be " Blue Bonnets 
over the Border," or "Hail Columbia!" — that 
they came in with cannon, with tents, with cook- 
ing utensils — that they came in to vote, and that 
when they had voted they departed. I do not 
say these are facts. They are allegations. They 
are set forth by parties who profess to have 
knowledge on which their statements are rested. 
These are the allegations presented in the report 
of the Committee of Elections. Instead of deci- 
ding that question for themselves, what do they 
ask? Not to receive their ijt)«e <f!Z!<, not to take 
their mere say-so, not to believe rumor, not to 
take hearsay, but they ask for power to send for 
persons and papers. In other words, they ask to 
establish these things if they be so; to prove 
them false if they be not so. I can hardly think 
there is a gentleman on the floor of this House 
who will rise up in his place and say that this 
reasonable request ought not to be granted. 

Are these things so? General Whitfield, on 
the other hand, denies these allegations. The 
minority report, made by the eloquent gentleman 
from Georgia, [Mr. Stephens,] denies these alle- 
gations. They say that there has been trespass 
in that Territory on the rights of actual settlers 
by Northern men — Northern " ruffians," if yon 
please; that men were hired, bought up for the 
occasion — men from alms-houses — men gathered 
up in the streets of Boston. Now, I am interested 
to know whether these things be so. 

I cannot act here in my seat — these gentlemen 
on this floor cannot act understandingly, until 
there is more light thrown on them than there 
is at present brought to bear on them. If, on the 
other hand, these things be so, and after the evi- 
dence shall have been brought in, they are proved 
to be so — if the aggression has been on the part 
of Northern men, I should be as ready as any 
other man to censure that aggression and disap- 
prove of these acts. 

But I understand it is admitted that there wm 
an invasion. I understood the gentleman fron: 



Missouri, [Mr. Oliver,] last Friday, to admit 
that the inhabitants of Missouri had gone over 
into Kansas, and had voted in that Territory. If 
I misunderstood the gentleman, I should behajipy 
to be corrected. I do not see the gentleman in 
his seat. 

Mr. STEPHENS. I recollect very well that the 
gentleman from Missouri expressly said that he 
was not aware that a single man from Missouri 
voted in that Territory. 

Mr. KEITT. The gentleman from Missouri is 
necessarily absent from the House this morning. 
Mr. TRAFTON. I understood that gentleman 
to admit that Missourians had gone into that 
Territory. He made the admission, and did not 
deny it. I supposed the gentleman was present 
this morning, and I am sorry he is not in his 
seat. 

Mr. STEPHENS. If the gentleman will allow 
me, I will state what I understood the gentleman 
from Missouri to say. 

Mr. TRAFTON. I will not yield now. The 
gentleman will have abundant opportunity to re- 
ply to my remarks when I have closed. 

Now, the great reason offered as an objection 
to granting the request of the Committee of Elec- 
tions to have power to send for persons and pa- 
pers,- is, that a society called the " New England 
Emigrant Aid Society" has had something to do 
with this matter, and therefore we should not 
look into the facts of the case. They say that a 
great wrong has been perpetrated by Massachu- 
setts men, by New England men, banded and as- 
sociated together, called the New England Emi- 
grant Aid Society; and because that wrong has 
been perpetrated, we should not look into the 
matter, to ascertain what are the facts of the 
case; and, therefore, because there has been this 
wrong, they on the other side may commit an- 
other wrong. I have learned, long since, that two 
wrongs can never make a right. Now, sir, if the 
New England Emigrant Aid Society has commit- 
ted an otfence, it does not excuse the citizens of 
Missouri for the commission of another offence. 
If the Emigrant Aid Society has committed an 
offence, that does not bring back the souls of 
men who have been murdered in that Territory. 
But what are the facts in the case? I propose 
this morning, for a short time, to call the atten- 
tion of the House to this great matter of the New 
England Emigrant Aid Spciety. I know this is a 
very startling epithet. It may be that mothers, 
far in the West, may hush their crying children 
by telling them that if they do not stop, the " New 
England Emigrant JLid Society" will be after 
them. I should not wonder. It seems some- 
thing terrible. Now, what is the "New England 
Emigrant Aid Society?" Is it a new thing un- 
der the sun? Is it something unheard of? Is 
it a new line of policy adopted in this country? 
Has the thing never been known before? I ad- 
mit the existence of such a society. I have be- 
fore me every publication which that Society has 
put forth to the world, even to the songs with 
which they 

•' Shook the depths of tlieir forest home "' 
in that far-off land. They have done nothing in 



secret, nothing covertly, nothing of which they 
are ashamed, and nothing to call a blush upon 
their cheek. 

I propose to present this matter to the House 
and to the country, but, before I come immedi- 
ately to that subject, allow me to say that the 
matter of this New England Emigrant Aid So- 
ciety is an old thing. Why, sir, the merit of this 
discovery does not lie with those gentlemen who 
first met together here in the city of Washington, 
and put their names to that paper to which our 
attention was called last Friday. It is something 
which has been in existence for a long time, and 
which has been pursued as a line of policy for 
more than two hundred years. Why, sir, there 
is not an old State in this Union which was not 
settled by the aid of precisely the kind of socie- 
ties as that which is now in existence in New 
England, and which has called down upon itself 
such heavy anathemas since this debate was 
opened. Who peopled Virginia — glorious old 
Virginia, as she is called? Emigrant Aid Socie- 
ties. Who peopled Georgia? Emigrant Aid So- 
cieties. Who pushed the first settlers up the 
Missouri, and who first settled Alabama? Who 
first peopled Massachusetts ? Emigrant Aid So- 
cieties. Ah, sir, I cannot say as much for Plym- 
outh. The Puritan fathers went without the 
aid of Emigrant Societies. The society which 
sent them there was a society of a different char- 
acter. But the Massachusetts colony svent under 
the auspices, the protection of, and were backed 
up by the influence and money, of Emigrant Aid 
Societies. So with every old State in this Union ; 
and now, forsooth, the sons of these sires come 
here and undertake to censure the New England 
Emigrant Aid Society for doing precisely that 
to which they owe their very existence. Ungrate- 
ful sons of worthy sires ! 

I propose to call the attention of the House, 
very briefl}^, to a little historical matter, and thus 
tostirup the pure mind ofour patriarchal brethren 
upon the other side of the House. I want the 
record. I want to appeal to the law and the testi- 
mony. Now, sir, I hold in my hand the first 
volume of a history of Virginia, from which I 
propose to read some extracts. Now, sir, how 
happened it that individuals ever thought of going 
to the wilds of Virginia in those early times ? It 
was not started by personal enterprise or personal 
ambition alone ; by no manner of means. Why, 
sir, every man present this morning, and listening 
to me, is perfectly well aware that an association 
was formed in England, that a grant of land was 
procured, and that a society based upon money 
was formed, proposing to establish a colony in 
Virginia. I liaYC before me the letters patent, 
granting liberty and freedom to a certain individ- 
ual, his heirs and assigns, forever, " to discover, 
find, search out, and colonize, all such heathen 
and barbarous lands," &c. 

The New England Emigrant Aid Societies re- 
ceived a patent something like that : not exactly 
to search and find out heathen lands, and all that 
sort of thing. The only difference between the 
one and the other is, that the one was signed by 
the Queen of England, and its powers were 



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jrranted by tlie British Parlinincnt ; ftnd the powers 

M the other were grunted by the Miissrtehusett3 
Legishxturc, and sigued by the Governor and 

[Speaker of the House pf Representatives, as I 

Uhall show directly. 

j Well now, sir, when Sir Walter Raleigh had 
secured this patent, the next thing to be done was 

'to form a company, precisely like the New Eng- 

jland Emigrant Aid Societies. Jlouey was wanted. 
' fllear what the historian says : 

" But, Mr. Uttlei!,'!i, who was laiicht. ' y the eXpeiliiion 

iolSir H.CiiUitrl, lUeKn-iU cxju-nses which a voyape of 

(lUc(>\'.rv iTi>alfil was iinxioii~- to associate with liiin, as 

I ipt.rlmTs'111 the profits and perils of the adventure, men of 

iWv.-ighl, and such as wera altachcil 10 him by sitnilariiy 

lof lasle." &c. 

j By the efforts of the New England Aid Societies 

■ I not two small vessels were provisioned and fitted 

out, but a number of cars on the railroad were 

' filled with men. Pray, where is the difference ? 

I Both these Emigrant Aid Societies were acting in 
the same line — both were working for the same 

' object. These old histories are to me exceedingly 

I interesting, as illustrating our own times and 
efforts to promote emigration to new Territories. 

I Well, sir, on page 63 you will find it written 
that the following year three ships were dispatched 
under the command of Mr. John White, who was 
appointed Governor of the colony, with twelve 
councillors. To them Mr. Raleigh gave a charter 
of incorporation, under the name of " Governor 
and Assistants of the City of Raleigh, in Vir- 
ginia," with directions to settle on the river Ches- 
apeake, the limit of the northern discoveries. 

I will show you directly the perfect parallel to 
this in the charter of the New England Emigrant 
Aid Societies. Well, sir, money was expended. 
Ah, sir, I remember the other day, when the gen- 
tleman from Missouri [Mr. Oliver] — who, I am 
sorry, is not now in his seat — stated, on the floor 
of this House, that the " Emigrant Aid Societies " 
of New England had a capital of $5,000,000 ; 
and of course the impression was made that they 
had expended some hundreds of thousands of 
dollars iu buying paupers and street scavengers 
for this newly-organized Territory. I will come 
to that by and by. 

I read again from the history : 

' Forty lhou»an'i pounds at tiie outset were expended in 
the several expeditions to old Virginia, and nothinj; liad 
as yet tippeared 10 justify a liope for the indemnification." 

Not a solitary return, sir, even of a single bea- 
ver-skin: £40,000, then equal to nearly £80,000 
of the present money of Great Britain, had been 
expended, and nothing attained. 

Well, sir, they did not give it up; and I am 
glad they did not, because, if they had, our worthy 
friends from Virginia would not be here this 
morning among us. I do not know whether we 
would be here ourselves. 

Well, sir, let us look at another thing here: 

'•The inirneiiise treasures brouglit home by the I'ortu- 
giese and Spaniards had filled tlic mind* of the Virginia 
company with ;.ioldeii dreams."' 

Ah, these are sweet dreams — sometimes " gold- 
«n dreams ! " That company, located in London, 
looking out over this vast continent, expected 
by and by that galleon after galleon would come 



bounding over the waves, filled with brightycllow 
ingots. Sir, when the western Territory was 
opened, there were reports brought to us of the 
Nortli and of the East— and they spread through 
the West— of broad and glorious i)rairies covered 
with multitudes of beautiful flower.'', splendid 
streams, magnificent forests— everything to invite 
the tiller of the soil. Wliy, sir, thc.?e reports 
filled us all with " golden dreams." Will you 
wonder that New England was stirred from center 
to circumference ? Do you wonder that the hard 
hand of toil trembled to be about the work of 
that Territory? Do you wonder that the eyes of 
the earnest young man of New England were 
looking out for a home there? Do you wonder 
that his foot should involuntarily lift itself from 
the soil, to plant itself in Kansas? "Golden 
dreams!" — exactly parallel cases! This Terri-^ 
tory was ours ; it was Freedom's domain, conse- 
crated by the toil, tears, lUid blood of our fathers. 
We had a right to go there, and ask no man's 
permission. 

Sir, who peopled Maryland? I hold in my 
hand the first volume of Bosman's History' of 
Maryland. I wish to call the attention of the 
House to two or three points in the history which 
I have before me. It will be remembered by mem- 
bers of the House, Mr. Speaker, that the first 
efforts to settle this country were made with ref- 
erence to the undivided territory of Maryland and 
Virginia. In other words, the original grants 
covered the territory of what is now both States. 
Here, sir, is an indenture of grant, bearing date 
the 7th of January, 1581 — new style — granted 
to John White, and twelve others therein men- 
tioned, in which they have " free liberty to carry 
with them to the lately-discovered, barbarous 
land — a country called Assamacomock, alias Win- 
gandacoia, alias Virginitx — there to inhabit them, 
such and so many of her Majesty's subjects as 
shall willingly accompany them, and also divers 
and sundrie other prerogatives, jurisdictions, roy- 
alties, and preheminences." Mr. Speaker, here are 
the germs of ourmodern " Emigrant Aid Society," 
now so condemned by the slaveocracy. 

I will not stop to read further. The point to 
which I desire to call your attention is, that this 
country was settled in pursuance of an Emigrant 
Aid Society formed in London. 

And now, Mr. Speaker, I want to say to this 
House, this morning, that emigration from the 
North and East to new Territories is not a new 
thing in the history of the country. Why, sir, 
emigration has always tended that way; from the 
first'settlement of theMassachusetts colony, almost 
the entire tide of emigration has been flowing 
westward and southward. This is not the first 
time that it has turned in that direction. Why, 
sir, the progenitors of many of the present in- 
habitants of Alabama, and of the entire valley 
of the Mississippi, started originally from the 
Connecticut valley, from the very seat, from the 
very fountain head, of all the fanaticism with which 
we are charged. I refer gentlemen to the second 
volume of the history of Alabama, page 177, for . 
full information in reference to the Emigrant Aid 
Society. They started from the Connecticut val- 



ley, went up the Mississippi river, and planted 
themselves in those Western wilds ; from whence 
have sprung the present inhabitants of Missouri, 
and a portion, at least, of Alabama. 

I have before me. a list of the names of the per- 
sons who went out under the patronage of that 
Emigrant Aid Society. I have not time to read it, 
but the names now borne by many of the promi- 
nent men of those States will be found there. 
And I discover, too, that in this list of names is 
one of those terrible reverends, about which so 
much has been said in this House, who are said 
to be always in every possible sort of agitation. 
Yet I find in this list of persons who emigrated 
to the valley of the Mississippi one of those terri- 
ble reverends. 

Now, sir, I ask the attention of the House for 
a moment to a company formed in 1789. It ap- 
pears that there was a very large tract of land 
claimed by Georgia, under a charter of Charles 
n — all the territory lying between 31° and 35°, 
from the Savannah to the Mississippi. Of this, 
five millions of acres were sold to the " South 
Carolina Yazoo Company," and five hundred 
thousand acres to the " Tennessee Company." 
Spain claimed much of this territory, and these 
difficulties were not yet arranged. " But," says 
the historian, " Georgia took the matter into her 
' own hands, as she has ever done with what concern- 
' ed her " — mark that, sir I — " and as she alu-ays 
' will.'" "Washington issued a proclamation against 
the whole enterprise, " but the Tennessee Com- 
pany heeded him not ! " They went to the Ter- 
ritory against the proclamation of the Executive, 
threw up works of defence, and invited settlers 
to purchase their lands; but the Government 
forces attacked the company, drove them out of 
the Territory, and burned their defences. 

Well, sir, these were nothing more nor less 
than Emigrant Aid Societies ; formed with a pe- 
cuniary object in view, to be sure, but their ob- 
ject was still to colonize those vast Territories 
then remaining unoccupied, and they induced 
these persons to go there for this purpose. 

Now, Mr. Speaker, one extract more in refer- 
ence to the South Carolina Emigrant Aid Socie- 
ty : 

"Ths'Aid Society 'also altempted to 'colonize their 
Iniidj.' and cnnstituted one O'Fallan, their 'emigrant 
agent,' who went to Kentucky, 'raised troop?, and issued 
coinmis ions in an illegal manner.' But Washington 
raiised OFallan to be arrested, and crdered General St. 
CI, irlo put down hv military force all attempts to colo- 
nize the Natchez country." 

And now, Mr. Speaker, the citizens of these 
same States condemn, as an unconstitutional and 
rebellious act, the effort of the New England Em- 
igrant Aid Society peaceably to accomiilish what 
they undertook by force and arms. 

These were the sentiments of the law-abiding 
people of the slaveholding States in this olden 
time. I will say, however, for the honor of old 
Virginia, that the Virginia Yazoo Company did 
not attempt to settle the lands which they had 
purchased. 

Well, now, sir, I think I have made it clear to 
the House that the idea of Emigrant Aid Socie- 
ties originated far back in the history of the 
country, and, therefore, the New England Emi- 



grant Aid Society rests upon high precedent. 
This is one ground of defence for that organiza- 
tion. 

Now, Mr. Speaker, what were the objects of 
this Emigrant Aid Society, of which so much 
has been said in this House, in its formation, 
and to what end have its efforts been directed ? 
Why, sir, I assert that they are Liberty, Freedom, 
the right of freemen to occupy free territory — 
nothing more, and nothing less. 

There have been no attempts to disguise this 
thing. It was not done in a corner. The bill 
which repealed the Missouri Compromise was 
passed in the night — in the dark night, as was 
fitting for a deed so disgraceful. But how was 
the case in the act which followed it ? The first 
meeting was gathered together here in Washing- 
ton. The paper was signed in the open daylight ; 
and it struck me the other day, when the gentle- 
man from Missouri alluded to you, Mr. Speaker, 
as having been one of the signers of that paper, 
that you never did a more glorious and worthy 
act in your life — an act of which you may be 
justly proud to your latest hour. 

I will read, for the benefit of those who are to 
come after me, the act of incorporation of this 
New England- Emigrant Aid Society. It is as 
follows : 

Commonwealth, of Massachusetts, in the year one thousand 

eight hundred and fifly-five. 
AN ACT to incorporate the New England Emigrant Aid 

Company. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in 

General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, 

asfolloics : 

Sec. I. Eli Thaver, Amos A. Lawrence, John M. S. 
Williams, and Thomas H.Webb, their associates, succes 
sbrs, and assigns, are hereby made a corporation, by the 
name of the New "England Emigrant Aid Company, for 
the purpose of directing emigration westward, and aiding 
in providing accomn odations for the emigrants after ar- 
riving at their places of destination ; • nd for these pur 
poses they have all the powers and privileges, and are suli 
ject to all the duties, restrictions, and liabilities, set forth 
m the forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes. 

Sec. 2. The capital stock of said corporation shal i.ot 
exceec one million of dollars. Sairl capital stock ma be 
invesed in real and personal estate : Provided, tt/e saiu 
corporation shall not hold real estate ii thi- Com'ron- 
weaUh to an amount exceeding twenty thousand dollars. 

Sec. 3. This act shall take eflect from and niter it-, pas- 

HousE OF REPKESENTATrvES February 16, 1855. 

Passed to be enacted. DANIEL C EDDY, Speaker. 
In Se.nate, February 17, 1S55. 
Passed to be enacted. 

HENRY W. BENCHLY, President. 
February 21, 1S55. .Approved. 

HEi\RY J. GARDAER. 

Who are the gentlemen thus incorporated to 
aid emigation to Kansas ? 

I am aware that our Southern brethren sup- 
posed these gentlemen were fanatics. They have 
never been ranked as Abolitionists— have never 
been known as Anti-Slavery men. They have 
never been affiliated with Mr. Garrison and the 
class he represents ; they have never affiliated 
even with our common Anti-Slavery organiza- 
tions of the North. Among the officers of this 
Society, Amos A. Lawrence, J. M. S. Williams, 
and J. Lowell, of Boston, are merchant princes. 
We have Professor Silliman, of Yale College ; 
Eli Thayer, of Worcester ; and N. A. Chapman, 
of Springfield. Are these men fanatics ? No ! but 



they are Auti-Slavery men to thoir hcarfd core^ 
and you have made them such. Your abomina- 
ble Fugitive Law made thousands of Abolitionists 
in the North ; while the unjust and iniquitous 
Kansas-Nebraska bill was the " last straw that 
broke the camel's back," and it has fully awaken- 
ed the people of the free States to the aggressive 
poHcy of the Slave Power. Thank yourselves 
for these results. 

I might go on and read the names of twenty 
or thirty others of like character. Those who 
know them will bear witness that they are not 
fanatics. They are sober, steady men ; intelli- 
gent, intlueutial men. They will not suffer by 
comparison with the constituency of the honora- 
ble gentleman from Missouri, [Mr. Oliver,] who 
took occasion to give so high a character to 
those who sent him to this House. I think that 
they will compare favorably with his iJr any 
other gentleman's constituency. 

What was the object of this organization ? It 
was to extend the area of Freedom. They set 
forth, in their plan of operations, that the Emi- 
grant Aid Society has been formed to protect 
emigrants, as far as may be, from the dangers 
which usually attend them. Its duty is to or- 
ganize emigration to the West, to bring it into a 
system. That was the object. It has been as- 
serted on this floor, again and again, that this 
Society have hired men to go to Kansas to vote ; 
that they paid their expenses ; that they took 
them from the chilly regions of poverty and deg- 
radation into their bosoms, warmed them into 
life, and set them down in the Western Territo- 
ries, to control the elections there, and for noth- 
ing else. There is not a word of truth in these 
allegations. The Emigrant Aid Society has never 
paid the passage of one solitary man to Kansas. 
I challenge in this successful contradiction. They 
have never given a bonus to one solitary man, 
or offered it to any man, or to any company of 
men. They have held out no inducements other 
than these : They have said that they would 
build a hotel in that Territory, that the emi- 
grants may have a resting-place when they reach 
the Territory ; that they will put up a saw-mill ; 
that they will endeavor to bring about the emi- 
grants some of the comforts of social life, which 
they sacrifice to go and build a new free State in 
iie Territory of Kansas. That is all ; no more, 
no less. 

The capital of the society is $1,000,000, but 
they have never received into their treasury quite 
850,000. They have not expended quite ?50,000. 
They have made arrangements by which railroad 
companies will transport emigrants at reduced 
rates, precisely as foreign emigrants are trans- 
ported to our Western Territories — precisely as 
they transport large companies of men for any 
and all objects. They have never taken men from 
the poor-houses or penitentiaries, and sent them 
to Kansas for the purpose of forming a new State 
in the West. I know that the emigrants to that 
Territory have been foully slandered in this re- 
spect. They have been basely caluminated. Who 
are they? The hard-handed artisan and the 
honest, hard-working yeomanry of the free States 
have gone there. They are honorable, respect- 



able men — men of character. Many have gone 
there with whom I am personally acquainted. I 
have never known a man go there, who started 
from New England, that did not boar at home the 
highest character for intelligence and upright- 
ness. 

The Emigrant Aid Society have put forth an 
address, particularly to the citizens of Missouri. 
It is a calm and well-written Christian address. 
They no doubt believe that the Missourians were 
honest in their impression that there was a foray 
made on them in that region by the Emigrant 
Aid Society ; that their rights are being inva- 
ded, aiid their interests perilled. 

Let us hear what they say; and this is attest- 
ed by men whose integrity will not be question- 
ed upon the floor of this Ilouse. They say : 

"III the published resolutions of the Convention lately 
held in Lexington, Missouri, we find inissiatiTnenls in re- 
gard to our enterprise, which we desire lo correet. This 
Company is the only incorporated association known lo 
us in the United States, which has for its ohject both as- 
sistance ard organization for Western emiRralion. We 
must therefore, infer that we are referred to in tlie resolu- 
tions which allude to ' moneyed associations under the 
patronage of sovereign States of this Union.' 

••The resolutions charge this Company, then, 

'• I. With recruiting armiesjtind hiring fanatics to go to 
Kansas. 

"II. With fanatical aggression on Missouri, with the 
intention of putting the torch lo the dwellings and the 
knife lo the throats of its people 

"III With sending persons to Kansas who do not in- 
tend to remain there, but who go oiily to interfere with 
and control the actual settlers. 

'• It is easy for us to show the entire falsehood of every 
one of these charges. 

" 1. To the charge of ' recruiting armies, and hiring 
fanatics to go to Kansas,' our answer is very simple. We 
liave never hired a man to go there, or paid the passage 
of a single emigrant. Every settler who has gone out 
under our auspices, has himself provided the means for 
his passage." 

"To speak of such men as 'paupers,' 'mercenaries,' and 
' hired adventurers,' is simply absurd. They are Ameri 
can citizens, who have the enthusiasm which all their 
countrymen have for colonizing new regions, and bring- 
ing them under the sway of man. 

" They carry with them their education, their skill, their 
money. They are erecting in Kansas their steam engines, 
their machine shops, their factories of wood, paper, iron, 
and all things useful to men. They have gone there be- 
cause they had a right there— because they chose to go — 
because they had the means to go— and because they be- 
lieved that in so doing they could better their condiuon, 
and. peniaps, do good service to God and man. 

"That they might go conveniently and cheaply, this 
company has been organized. It is one of the customs of 
New England for men to organize themselves to work in 
co-operation for any object which they can achieve thus 
belter than as separate individuals. This is one of our 
institutions to which we are attached, and to which we 
owe much of our prosperity." 

"On his arrival in a new country, the chief difficulty of a 
senler is in the want of capital. This want is particularly 
felt in KanPBS. One of the resolutions ol the Lexington 
Convention expresses regretthat the settlement of Kansas 
was not left to lonely pioneers, like those who settled Ohio 
and Indiana. Wc refer you to the leUer of General B. F. 
Stringfellow, to Messrs. Clingman, brooks, and others, for 
the opinion on this point of one who knows that country. 

"General Slringfellow assures those gentlemen that 
such a settlement is impossible; that such pioneers as 
have hitherto levelled the forests and broke up the ' plains 
of the West,' cannot do the same work in Kansas. His 
letter shows that such laborers need the resources of cap- 
ital, and that capital may well be embarked in assisting 
thcni, lo the mutual benefit of all concerned. 

"Si soon ns it was evident that the westward cmigrar.ts 
from New England intended to move in large numbers to 
Kansas, it became clear to us that their most urgent need 
would be for those improvements which capital, and thai 
only, can supply. They must have, first of all, comforta- 
ble houses, school-houses, and churches. To supply saw- 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
Published hj the Republican Associatioti of Washington. 

BUELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS. 

18 5 6. 



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